The Early Winner & Losers in Ontario’s Fledgling Sports Betting Market

— Is Bet365 still Canada’s favourite book?

Months have passed, and at least some dust has settled after the historic launch of legal commercial sports betting in Ontario. In the time that has elapsed, there have been winners and losers. Some books haven’t managed to establish the foothold they may have wanted to, while others have been hit by fines, which may have led them to lose some face in the industry.

We’ve called in Alex Goldstein, betting expert, and manager of a leading bookmaker comparison website called My Betting Sites Canada, to get a better understanding of what is going on.

Who are the winners?

Interestingly enough, it’s theScore.bet that has shown signs of being the early out-and-out winner of the launch of legal sports betting in Ontario so far. While it may feel as, this makes sense, as theScore.bet has been a trusted sports media provider for some time now. With that said, however, it’s not always the case that a company of a certain inclination can establish a foothold in another industry.

While this may be true, DraftKings Sportsbook and Fanduel Sportsbook are among the most popular sports betting brands in the US. They were both Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) companies, until they launched their sportsbooks, showing that it is possible to steer the ship in a new direction and establish success relatively quickly.

So perhaps theScore.bet’s early rise is down to the brand loyalty they’ve managed to build in the province of Ontario.

Other winners include Caesars Sportsbook, Betway, and Bet365. The interesting thing to note here, however, is that Bet365 used to be the most searched for sports betting operator on Google in Canada, while Betway came second. While that still may be the case, Bet365’s popularity is beginning to dwindle, as users in Ontario have up to 23 other out-and-out sports betting options.

And, who are the losers?

Two brands in particular can be explained to have lost in some way, but overall, slapping the phrase “losers” upon them may be a little harsh. That being said, early fines handed to Pointsbet and BetMGM indicate that they had a harder time adjusting to the new regulations.

Pointsbet, an operator that has secured widespread interest through a bold partnership with the Trailer Park Boys, were the first to run into issues. The innovative betting brand failed to meet the standards set out by the AGCO when it came to advertising inducements. The Australian betting brand was hit with a 30 000 fine for their failure to keep to standards.

BetMGM, one of the biggest brands in the US, was also hit with a fine by the AGCO, for the very same. They had also breached advertising standards by mentioning not only faulty information, but information that they were prohibited from displaying.

Conclusion

The truth of the matter is that all the betting sites that have entered the Ontario betting market have been winners in some way. While that’s the case, some won more than others, namely The Score’s sports betting platform. One can also see that players are exploring more options aside from Bet365, Canada’s historically most popular book, is losing its previous traction.

The losers include Pointsbet and BetMGM, who had been hit by early fines for breaching regulations. In saying that, the fines have certainly not affected the operators in terms of what they continue to offer, as Pointsbet and BetMGM are among the top betting sites in Ontario.